Morocco in 2007

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Morocco had been relatively free from political violence following the suicide bombings in May 2003 in Casablanca, but by 2007 the potential for violence had flared once again. There was growing frustration with the government, which was unable to address the poor economic situation. Though a recent flood of foreign investment from the Persian Gulf states had promoted a number of prestige projects, such as the refurbishment of the Bou Regreg river valley and the development of new tourist facilities in Marrakesh, these improvements did little to alleviate the high unemployment in Morocco.

In early March a young man from the poverty-stricken district of Sidi Moumen in Casablanca blew himself up in an Internet café after an altercation with the owner. On April 10 three suicide bombers blew themselves up in Casablanca and a fourth was shot by police. Four days later the U.S. consulate and a privately run U.S. cultural centre came under attack when two suicide bombers (brothers) detonated their explosives near the buildings. Police later apprehended three suspected accomplices and were able to connect all the perpetrators in the March–April bombings. A bomb that had been placed on a tourist bus in Meknes in August was disarmed before it exploded.

In the legislative elections on Sept. 7, 2007, only 37% of voters went to the polls, the lowest turnout in the country’s history. Though the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) was expected to double its representation in the lower house of the parliament (and it had won the largest share of the vote), gerrymandering of electoral constituency boundaries denied the PJD the largest number of seats. The veteran nationalist Istiqlal party won 52 seats, followed by the PJD (46), the centrist Popular Movement (MP; 41), and the conservative National Rally of Independents (RNI; 39). The former ruling party, the Union of Socialist Popular Forces (USFP), came in fifth with only 38 seats. The king honoured an earlier pledge by asking Abbas al-Fassi, the leader of Istiqlal, to form a new government.

Relations with Spain became strained in November when King Juan Carlos of Spain visited Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish enclaves that had long been claimed by Morocco. Relations between the two countries had improved dramatically since Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero took office in 2004.

Moroccans on November 5 protest the visit of King Juan Carlos of Spain to the Spanish enclave of …